


One Hundred Kisses

by mylifeissocoollike



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Jily Trope Fest, fake engaged, jily, marlene mentioned, wolfstar mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 01:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7247302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylifeissocoollike/pseuds/mylifeissocoollike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily convinces James to pretend to be engaged to her so they can go to a bakery and try wedding cake samples. Perhaps pretending to be engaged to the person you've wanted to kiss for six years isn’t the best way to continue denying your feelings. But then again, maybe it’s the best way to finally let them surface.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Hundred Kisses

“So you remember the details right?”

“Yeah yeah. I proposed to you on the playground where we met, the wedding is going to be in June, we’re thinking the flowers will be red and yellow and we’re honey mooning in Paris.”

“You’ll have to say it with a little more excitement than that if it’s going to be convincing.”

“Lily, _dearest_ , I’m _so_ excited to marry you and I _can’t wait_ for our trip to Paris!”

“Shut the hell up, James.”

“Honestly, I’m just mad that we can’t tell the truth. _You_ were the one who proposed to me after all,” he said smugly.

Lily rolled her eyes and shoved her hands deep into her pockets. She supposed she technically had been the one to propose, since this was her scheme after all. It had started when she stormed into James’ flat two weeks ago, shouting about wedding cake. He had thought she had finally gone mad and told her so. And after a good hour arguing the pros and cons, she almost didn’t even go through with the plan. But then a week later her sister started bragging about her engagement again and Lily felt an urge to do something ridiculous.

“I don’t see why you couldn’t be fake engaged to Remus,” James mumbled. He was acting like pretending to be engaged to her so they could try wedding cake samples was the worst thing in the world but she knew his mischievous side was getting quite a thrill. He would take great pride in himself if he was able to be convincing enough to get away with this.

“Because all Remus talks about these days is Sirius. It’d be much too obvious,” Lily explained. Their friends had finally started dating after years of flirting. Remus was over the moon about it and Lily was sure that they would decide to move in together any day now. Part of her wondered if she and James should just switch roommates. She could move across the hall into James’ flat and Sirius into hers and Remus’. But for the fifth time that week, she had to shake her head at the idea. She couldn’t live with James, that’d be absurd. Besides, why would James want to live with her anyway?

“Ok, love, better hold my hand and make it look like you’re a blushing bride-to-be, because we’re here.”

Lily felt something flutter in her stomach when he called her that. She hesitated for a second, and James wanted to tell her they could still skip out and forget the whole thing. But part of him really wanted to hold her hand for an hour and just pretend that she was really his. So he was glad when she finally reached out and grasped his hand firmly. She was glad to do it too.

“Ah, Miss. Evans and Mr. Potter!” an older woman wearing spectacles greeted them and led them into the shop. There was a table set up for them and at least six different kinds of cake were laid out on it. Lily grinned at the sight.

Mrs. Smith talked them through the flavors available and then led them through the tasting. Lily tried a tangy orange one first and almost swooned. She tried not to act surprised and awkward when James fed her a bite of the chocolate raspberry one he was eating. _He’s just acting cute for the show_ , she reminded herself.

“Where did you two meet?” came the inevitable question from Mrs. Smith about fifteen minutes into the cake testing.

“On a playground when we were ten,” James said. Lily tried not to kick him for saying it like it was something he rehearsed, even though technically, they did rehearse it.

“That’s where he proposed,” she said, trying to sound like she was completely head over heels. And yeah, maybe that wasn’t something that really needed rehearsal for her but she was still not admitting that to herself.

Technically they had met on a playground, but when they were eighteen, not ten. And Lily, Remus and Marlene had been quite drunkenly spinning around on the swings when James and Sirius strolled up and told them they were going to break their necks. They were quite drunk too though and instantly burst out laughing at the attempt to sound like mature adults. They joined them on the swings and the five of them stayed there until dawn. Six years later and they were inseparable. Not that Lily ever wanted to be separated from James after that first night on the playground when he had gazed into her eyes with such intensity that she instantly sobered. That wasn’t the day she fell in love with James Potter, but listening to his wonderful laugh echo in the quiet morning had certainly been the beginning of it.

As they continued to eat cake and chat with Mrs. Smith, Lily was vaguely aware of his hand resting on her knee. And his eyes gazing fondly at her, like she was the most precious and rare thing on Earth and he had to look at her carefully lest she suddenly disappear. _Just pretending, just pretending_ , she reminded herself.

They left the cake shop, promising Mrs. Smith that they would be in touch soon about their decision.

“He’s so indecisive,” she joked as they were leaving. He swatted at her arm.

“It didn’t take me a _second_ to know I wanted to be with you, but you took nearly six years so who’s the indecisive one,” he grumbled. Mrs. Smith laughed at them and wished them well and they left hand in hand.

As they walked back to their building, something puzzled Lily. It was the way he had responded to her comment about being indecisive. It was almost like he had slipped out of the charade and was being genuine about wanting to be with her. _But that would be ridiculous_.

“James, where are we going?” she asked when he suddenly veered left instead of right. He continued leading her and she realized he was still holding her hand. She didn’t want him to stop, but didn’t want to let on how desperately she needed him to hold her. She figured that since he was taking her somewhere she could get away with enjoying being held.

They suddenly arrived at the playground where they met and Lily grinned. It was a cool day and no children were around so they each took a seat on a swing. She scuffed her toes in the sand and twisted the ropes until they couldn’t go any further. Then she let herself go. There was something freeing about spinning around on a swing and she couldn’t help but laugh at the wonderfulness of it all. But as she started to slow and the swing made its last few rotations she noticed James’ face. And he was looking at her _like that_ again. Something in her stomach did a flip and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the dizzying spinning or the amazing man across from her who was looking at her like she was the best thing in the world. _Definitely, James._

“James, are you ok? You look a little funny.”

“I’m just trying to remember this moment.”

“Why would you want to remember me on the swings? Honestly we’ve done this a hundred times before and-“ She stopped midsentence when he reached over and grabbed both the ropes of her swing so that they were swaying face to face.

“Because we haven’t done this a hundred times,” he whispered.

And then he leaned across the space and kissed her. His lips were softer than she had imagined and a welcome warmth on this cold day. She reached across the space and gripped the sides of his jacket, holding him closer to her. Honestly it was the most awkward kiss she had ever had. They couldn’t do anything with their hands besides hold on for dear life or else they would swing away from each other. And Lily never wanted to be away from this again.

He pulled away first and smirked at the dazed expression on her face. Truthfully, he hadn’t wanted to pull away at all. But he wanted to be somewhere where he could hold her. He had wanted to run his hands through her hair for ages and sitting on these damn swings wasn’t letting him.

“I want to do that a hundred times,” Lily whispered. James gazed into her green eyes that had practically glowed with happiness on the night they met, and wondered when exactly he had fallen in love with Lily Evans. Certainly not that night, but definitely shortly after. Perhaps it was when dawn hit that day, and her hair had been a thousand different brilliant shades of red and she smiled at him like he was the only person there. After all, he wasn’t indecisive.

“I think that could be arranged,” he said as he stood and extended a hand to help her off her swing. She grinned at him- the same beautiful, witty, trouble making grin that had convinced him to pretend to be engaged to her and go try wedding cake samples. He hadn’t wanted to pretend, he had wanted it to be real. But maybe he would mention that after the hundredth kiss, not the first.

Lily laced her fingers into his boldly this time and they hurried home. They burst into Lily’s flat, hoping that Remus would be over in James and Sirius’. As soon as the door was kicked shut, their hands were on each other.

Lily unzipped his jacket and threw it to the floor so she could get a better grip on his sides. James spread sloppy kisses along her jaw and she felt like he was leaving a trail of fire that was slowly spreading toward her stomach. He pushed her against the door and slipped a hand into her hair. She shuddered at the soft, caressing touch on the back of her neck.

It was really all too much. Too much too soon. But when Lily thought about his words when they were leaving the bakery it all made sense. “It didn’t take me a second to know I wanted to be with you,” he had said. And really, she felt the same.

Road trips, pizza nights, days where he would hold her as she cried about her awful sister, the week she spent in his bed after his parents died because he couldn’t sleep without someone holding him, always agreeing on ice cream flavors, late night trips to the playground, preparing meals together without having to say a word because they were so in synch.

As she kissed him and ran her hands up his shirt, she realized that all the nights they had spent together, crying, talking, laughing and raging, had really built up to this moment. It wasn’t too much too soon. They had been on the verge of dating all these years and just hadn’t wanted to admit to themselves that they were falling in love with each other. And now, pressed up a doorway together, they making up for all the kisses they could have and should have shared in the past six years.

“James?”

He grunted against her collar bone. Her shirt had come undone and one of his hands was lightly drifting around the bottom of her bra. It tickled. She never knew that something that tickled could also feel so bloody good. He kissed her lips again and as he pulled away her tongue traced his bottom lip. He smiled at that and she never wanted to be looked at any differently.

“Yes?” he quirked an eyebrow and she suddenly felt herself blush. This was different from the hot flush that had been spreading across her chest as he was kissing it mere seconds ago. This was a nervous blush like the one she had noticed on his face right before he kissed her on the swings.

“How many kisses do you think that was?” she asked. He snorted and the twinkle in his eye that she knew and loved was there and she felt like she could get used to being pressed up against a wall by him, with a beautiful view like that.

“At least eighty,” he said with mock seriousness. He quickly kissed her again, “Eighty-one.”

“James?” she started, all teasing and humor aside, she really did want to say the thing that was slowly making her jittery. “Do you think eighty-one kisses is too soon to tell you I love you?”

His head jerked back from the spot he had been sucking below her ear lobe and gazed at her in stunned silence. She suddenly worried she had made a mistake. Sure they had known each other for six years and been through everything imaginable together but just because he had kissed her eighty-one times, didn’t mean he felt like that already. Even though she did.

“I think,” he said slowly. She felt his hands leave her breasts and drift down to her waist and the disappointment and anxiety grew. “I think that I should’ve told you _at least_ fifty kisses ago.”

Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. His lips were different now. Maybe it was the confession they had just made to each other.

“I should’ve told you five years ago, Lily,” he said as they broke away for air and he rested his forehead on hers.

“I should’ve told you five years ago, too.”

“Are we both indecisive then?” he teased.

“No, just a little unobservant I think.”

“I love you, Lily.”

“I love you, James.”

And he kissed her for what might’ve been the hundredth time and she knew that there would be hundreds more. James would be there with her no matter what. Always ready to sneak into wedding cake shops, always ready to swing with her on a playground, always ready to push her up against a door and kiss her senseless. And she would be ready to do it all with him. Because at the end of the day she was in love with him, and she never wanted to deny it again.

A throat cleared from the other room and they froze.

“If you two are finished, we’re about to watch Parks and Recreation,” Sirius said from the lounge.

“Give them some alone time, Sirius” Remus hissed.

“Sorry I want to watch the gorgeous Leslie Knope without hearing their sloppy kisses in the background,” Sirius whinged.

James looked at Lily and grinned. She slipped her hand into his and dragged him toward her bedroom. They both simultaneously flipped the bird in the general direction of Sirius as the passed the television and heard Remus groan in exasperation when he said, “What did I do?”

Lily slammed the door shut behind them for emphasis and looked at James.

“Tell me again I was crazy for wanting to try wedding cake samples,” she whispered as she began to reach for the waist of his jeans.

“Oh, I still think you were crazy,” he muttered into her skin. “But I love it.”

She laughed as he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Yes, he loved her. And she loved him. And they were going to be together for a hundred more kisses, years and lifetimes. Because they were James and Lily and they were meant for each other. Even if they were a little slow to realize it.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for @jilyfest, inspired by http://mylifeissocoollike.tumblr.com/post/139209177825/ohyouprettythings-alrightevans-i-just-saw


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